In this collaborative project, students will be expected to blog diary entries about their experience in the Oregon Trail. This project is aimed at 5th graders. To begin this project, each member of the group will be assigned a role that will contribute to the weekly blog assignments. The teacher will set up the blog site and students will have access to their own groups page so they can create their entries. Each group will have 5 members: 2 researchers, 1 tech support, 1 creative writer and 1 editor. Students will research what to bring in terms of food and supplies, what routes are most efficient and how they can overcome obstacles that the trail might bring. Students will create weekly blog entries collaboratively and answer the assigned question for the week. For ten weeks students will pretend that they themselves are physically going on the Oregon Trail and will blog about their experiences and problems they encounter. (Kristin)
The Product:
For this PBL, students will be split into groups of five. Each group of five will be responsible for one blog and one poster. The blog will consist of nine entries over a ten-week period. Each blog entry must be written in diary form and answer all of the questions asked. Each member of the group must be involved in the writing of the blog. In the tenth week of the PBL each group will be responsible for making a poster. The poster will need to include a map of the route chosen, at least two images that are relevant to each groups experience with the Oregon Trail, and an overview of the blog each group has kept. Each group will be presenting their posters to the rest of the class. EVERY STUDENT MUST PARTICIPATE. (Eliza)
Curriculum Standards:
Referencing the Oregon Department of education, fifth graders have a set of standards to fulfill. For social sciences students must begin to apply skills to more specific Social Sciences content.
Students examine the period of United States History, including the study of the Oregon Trail. Below is a list of standards that are encouraged when studying the Oregon Trail.
Standards include: State & Local History: Understand and interpret the history of the state of Oregon.
· SS.05.HS.06 Understand how individuals changed or significantly influenced the course of Oregon state history. · SS.05.HS.06.01 Identify significant people in the history of Oregon from pre-history through theperiod of the American Revolution. · SS.05.HS.06.02 Understand the interactions and contributions of the various people and cultures that have lived in or migrated to the area that is now Oregon from pre-history through the period of the American Revolution. Historical Skills: Identify and analyze diverse perspectives on and historical interpretation of historical issues and events. · SS.05.HS.04 Identify primary and secondary sources. Historical Skills: Understand, recognize, and interpret change and continuity over time. · SS.05.HS.03 Understand how history can be organized using themes, geography, or chronology. Understand how people and the environment are interrelated. · SS.05.GE.07 Understand how physical environments are affected by human activities. · SS.05.GE.07.01 Understand how and why people alter the physical environment. · SS.05.GE.07.02 Describe how human activity can impact the environment. · SS.05.GE.08 Understand how human activities are affected by the physical environment. · SS.05.GE.08.01 Identify constraints on human activity caused by the physical environment.
(Alisa)
The Driving Question:
The driving question in our group is why are they students needing to study about the Oregon Trail? And what do they benefit from it? As 5th graders it is important to study the Oregon Trail because they need to learn what happened in the history of the state of Oregon. It is important for students to learn about their own state’s history. Not only is this important but the way the project is set up teaches them a lot more than just facts about the Oregon Trail. They are taught a lot about teamwork along with learning about the Oregon Trail. Since the children are broken up into multiple groups of five they learn how to collaborate and work together in order to survive the Oregon Trail. Along with that they are also expected to journal on their blog together, therefore they are taught how to work together even more. (Shannon)
Technology Integration:
The teacher will set up a blog for each group, on a website such as blogger, that the students in that group will have access to. The students will use this blog to create entries that reflect a diary format, and will edit the design and structure of their group's individual blog. The students will use various information collected from the internet to form their "trip" and will need to find reliable sources from which to research. The students will find images for their final poster using the internet. Overall, technology is something that isn't necessarily necessary for the project to work, so if a teacher had no access they could use books and traditional diaries instead. That said, the technology will help make this project to be interesting and informative for the children and will help hone their research skills. (Nichole)
Project Overview:
In this collaborative project, students will be expected to blog diary entries about their experience in the Oregon Trail. This project is aimed at 5th graders. To begin this project, each member of the group will be assigned a role that will contribute to the weekly blog assignments. The teacher will set up the blog site and students will have access to their own groups page so they can create their entries. Each group will have 5 members: 2 researchers, 1 tech support, 1 creative writer and 1 editor. Students will research what to bring in terms of food and supplies, what routes are most efficient and how they can overcome obstacles that the trail might bring. Students will create weekly blog entries collaboratively and answer the assigned question for the week. For ten weeks students will pretend that they themselves are physically going on the Oregon Trail and will blog about their experiences and problems they encounter. (Kristin)The Product:
For this PBL, students will be split into groups of five. Each group of five will be responsible for one blog and one poster. The blog will consist of nine entries over a ten-week period. Each blog entry must be written in diary form and answer all of the questions asked. Each member of the group must be involved in the writing of the blog. In the tenth week of the PBL each group will be responsible for making a poster. The poster will need to include a map of the route chosen, at least two images that are relevant to each groups experience with the Oregon Trail, and an overview of the blog each group has kept. Each group will be presenting their posters to the rest of the class. EVERY STUDENT MUST PARTICIPATE. (Eliza)Curriculum Standards:
Referencing the Oregon Department of education, fifth graders have a set of standards to fulfill. For social sciences students must begin to apply skills to more specific Social Sciences content.
Students examine the period of United States History, including the study of the Oregon Trail. Below is a list of standards that are encouraged when studying the Oregon Trail.Standards include:
State & Local History: Understand and interpret the history of the state of Oregon.
· SS.05.HS.06 Understand how individuals changed or significantly influenced the course of Oregon
state history.
· SS.05.HS.06.01 Identify significant people in the history of Oregon from pre-history through theperiod of the American Revolution.
· SS.05.HS.06.02 Understand the interactions and contributions of the various people and cultures
that have lived in or migrated to the area that is now Oregon from pre-history through the period of
the American Revolution.
Historical Skills: Identify and analyze diverse perspectives on and historical
interpretation of historical issues and events.
· SS.05.HS.04 Identify primary and secondary sources.
Historical Skills: Understand, recognize, and interpret change and continuity over time.
· SS.05.HS.03 Understand how history can be organized using themes, geography, or chronology.
Understand how people and the environment are interrelated.
· SS.05.GE.07 Understand how physical environments are affected by human activities.
· SS.05.GE.07.01 Understand how and why people alter the physical environment.
· SS.05.GE.07.02 Describe how human activity can impact the environment.
· SS.05.GE.08 Understand how human activities are affected by the physical environment.
· SS.05.GE.08.01 Identify constraints on human activity caused by the physical environment.
(Alisa)
The Driving Question:
The driving question in our group is why are they students needing to study about the Oregon Trail? And what do they benefit from it? As 5th graders it is important to study the Oregon Trail because they need to learn what happened in the history of the state of Oregon. It is important for students to learn about their own state’s history. Not only is this important but the way the project is set up teaches them a lot more than just facts about the Oregon Trail. They are taught a lot about teamwork along with learning about the Oregon Trail. Since the children are broken up into multiple groups of five they learn how to collaborate and work together in order to survive the Oregon Trail. Along with that they are also expected to journal on their blog together, therefore they are taught how to work together even more. (Shannon)Technology Integration:
The teacher will set up a blog for each group, on a website such as blogger, that the students in that group will have access to. The students will use this blog to create entries that reflect a diary format, and will edit the design and structure of their group's individual blog. The students will use various information collected from the internet to form their "trip" and will need to find reliable sources from which to research. The students will find images for their final poster using the internet. Overall, technology is something that isn't necessarily necessary for the project to work, so if a teacher had no access they could use books and traditional diaries instead. That said, the technology will help make this project to be interesting and informative for the children and will help hone their research skills. (Nichole)Research Links:
Oregon trail InformationRoutes
Oregon Pioneers
Oregon Trail Map
The Oregon Trail